Hidden Teesside

The location of the ironstone drift is now the site of pond, presumably filled with water still flowing from the mine workings.

The Lady Hewleys Trust is actually still in existance today.

Ayton Banks was mined by three different companies between 1909 and 1929, it was a small royalty entirely enclosed within Ayton Monument mine.
The most obvious remains are the numerous shale heaps, some with ironwork on top probably from aerial ropeways.

A number of building remains and foundation can be spotted in the dense undergrowth

A very small length of drift is visible at the bottom of a large collapse, but its tricky to reach and also flooded.

About 100m to the south of the drift, iron stained water can be seen emerging from what was presumably a drainage level, this appears to be lined with corrugated iron sheets which have collapsed a few feet in, water can again be seen at the bottom of that collapse.

The bridge into Waterfall Park in Great Ayton is dedicated to five ironstone miners who lost their lives in the First World War.

The under manager George Whitbread worked at Ayton Monument rather than Ayton Banks.

Over the bridge is a cast iron Victorian Urinal, it was originally one of three, it moved here in 1998 from Station Road.

Very close to the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum which is well worth a visit to see the later North Drift, are the remains of the original 1848 drift in Skinningrove.

I have no idea what purpose the cupboard like structure currently inside served, it appears to be from after the tunnel was blocked.
The adjacent small tunnel looks likely to have been for drainage.

This was the first of the Cleveland ironstone mines and finally closed in 1958-1959.

By the side of the tramway that runs through the woods from the Eston mines are the remains of the Keith Fan House, it was used to ventilate an area of workings near the Lowther drift.

On the side of one of the concrete foundations is the inverted impression of company name.

The location i’ve given is only approximate, but its easily located walking along the tramway.

This substation building was built in 1914 next to the tramway between the Eston and Chaloner ironstone mines and was one of the few standing remains left from the Eston mines.

Although you’ll not see it any more as it was apparently demolished in the last couple of days.

I know very little about this, I only picked up on its existence from a Flickr photo. It follows the path which exits the wood so its highly likely its to do with the ironstone mines in Eston.

The track continued in a cutting on the other side of the road, heading off towards Dunsdale, although on closer inspection that is to the north of this area.
A tunnel is marked on this map at Waggonways which also suggest a second tunnel closer to Dunsdale

By way of a disclaimer and warning, its located on a scrambler track (possibly on private land?)

It’s likely unsafe, you’ll get very dirty and need a torch.

*Update 2008* Having visited more mining sites subsequently and spoken to other, I now believe this to be actual ironstone workings rather than a rail tunnel. Its unlined and a bord and pillar arrangement of passages is running parallel to the road not just under it, here are some internal shot taken with a better camera.

I’m posting no exact location for this one as its in a popular woodland area.
A fine set of wooden supports exist a short way into the mine, although the vast majority have long ago rotted away to stumps
 

The roof of the drift is high due to its northly location in the area, the ironstone thins and reduces in iron contents as you move to the south.

The explorable area of the drift ends after about 50m with all passages become blocked, although the cross pattern of the bord and pillar workings are clearly visible.

This was an easy one for me as i’m now walking past it on my way into work every day at Corus Steel House.

The plaque has seen better days, but it says the 9 tonne block was extracted from the Eston mine in 1850 and stood outside the head offices of Bolckow & Vaughan until 1982.

Making sure to be aware of the tides, the trip between Staithes and Port Mulgrave is a good one, unfortunately I forgot the memory card in the camera, so only phone photos this time.
Old Nab has the remains of ‘bord and pillar’ working now clearly visible on the shore

Along much of the northern part of Brackenberry Wyke exposes the ‘Pecten’ Ironstone seam, with the fossil shells the seam is named after covering the area.

A large adit into ironstone seams is visible in the cliff at the north end of the Wyke, these workings once extended up to 1km inland although now they are collapsed after a very short distance, the cliff above is also very unstable with stones constantly falling.

A smaller collapsed adit is visible just a few meters south of the larger one

Much further to the south, just before the large landslip known as Sheepstones, there is another large adit.

However this is a good distance up the cliff and its impossible to tell if it travels from any distance, it would seem extremely unlikely given the fragile nature of all the cliffs in this area.

Blink Bonny is apparently Norse for “nice view” and it certainly is (although not on the day I visited due to low cloud)

The drift was associated with the Ailesbury Mines to the north east, a collapsed drift can be seen in the hillside, with the tip in front now being home to a bench and viewpoint.

The are numerous other tips and collapses in the area at the same level as these working.

Calcining is the process of roasting iron ore making it more suitable from blast furnaces, these structures are similar to the larger and more obvious kilns in Rosedale.

The location can easily be approached through the woods to the North West along the old railway line which goes directly to the kilns. A large shale tip can be seen through the trees just before arriving.

A groove can be seen in the North West end, presumably it once housed a chute of some kind to load into waggons on the railway below.

The South East end also has brickwork standing approximately 10m high.

The back wall of the kilns are the majority of the remains, as the front wall and any dividers have collapsed into a large spread of rubble in front, some of the retaining fittings are still visible in this rubble.

Layers of firebricks burnt red by extreme heat and it places completely burnt away, can still be seen in position along the back wall.

The structure was surveyed in much more detail by John Owen and published in Cleveland Industrial Archaeologist No. 22.

Warren Moor has the only standing chimney of any ironstone mine in the area, dating from the 1860s

A completely flooded 220ft downcast shaft can be seen from the path.

Between the two shafts are the foundations of a winding engine.

A vaulted roof leads from the foundations of a pumping house to the upcast shaft.

The upcast shaft is estimated to be 150ft deep, not reaching the Main Seam ironstone and not connected to the downcast hence the differing water levels in each.

A number of surface drifts can be seen on the hillside to the north east which worked the Top Seam.

The shaft at Lumpsey were started in early 1880 and stuck the ironstone seam 175m down in late 1881.

The mine operated through to November 1954, the majority of the building were demolished around 1964.

Both capped shafts are marked with a pillar and have an inscription (at least a welded one)

Between the two shafts are the sizeable brick foundations of a steam pumping engine.

The circular opening of the Waddel fan house is still visible, although perhaps not for much longer as comparing with pictures from a couple of years ago the top has recently broken.

The largest mass of remains are the concrete foundations of the main winding house.

Slight to the south of the winding house foundations are four concrete blocks which supported steam driven electricity generators.

A small tower which supported a weighbridge stands between the downcast shaft and the railway line.

There are many other fragments of buildings and foundations scattered around in the undergrowth.

The shaft at Aysdalegate was sunk some time around 1868, with the mine operating until 1880. A branch of the railway ran in front of the buildings to allow loading.

The mine buildings have since been converted into residental houses, although the small central window in the last house shows this was once a winding house.

A capped shaft acts as roundabout in front of the winding house.

As mentioned on the previous visit, this site is extremely dangerous due to the bad air and risk of collapse. Use extreme caution and visit with experienced people and proper equipment.

After the arches previously photographed, the ventilation drift continues perhaps 50m before coming to a 5-way junction.

A passage continues away to the left, with brick walls presumably for mounting air doors. The passage leads to a furnace originally used for ventilation via a vertical shaft.

To the right of furnace is a small drift heaped with waste along one side.

Returning back to the large junction, the No.2 Drift runs in both direction lined with pipes for compressed air, water and pumping.

Heading back in the direction of the surface along the No. 2 Drift you reach a smaller earlier furnace and have the pleasure of being able to stand upright for the first time in long while. From here you can travel a short distance further towards the surface before reaching the in-filled face with plant roots poking through.

Back-tracking to the smaller furnace a cross-cut then leads to the main No.1 Drift which runs parallel to the drift with the pipes.

The No. 1 Drift is much higher giving plenty of room to stand, the short distance back towards the surface shows the roof here is collapsing.

Turning the other way into the mine progress along the No.1 drift is fairly easy with haulage wires, recesses and cross-cuts being visible.

On the left you can spot a single brick removed from a wall that seem to be the source of breathable air. A little past that area on the left was a wooden plank over a sizeable hole in the ground and a large open area off to the right, both of which looked hazardous.

At this point we noticed our breathing was becoming heavier so immediately turned around and exited the mine. Back up the main drift then zig-zagging down the No.2 drift and out of the fan drift.

Despite being on the same level as Cat Beck trial and only about 500m away getting to this one is a real challenge, it opens out below the edge of the cliffs, a climb down would be very risky and the climb from below is challenging and covered in brambles already, later in the year gardening gloves and very thick trousers would be in order.

The difficulty of access is reflected in there being only empty beercan in the drift (regulars of this sort of thing will know you cannot usually move for them)
The drift goes into the cliff before reaching a T-junction perhaps 25m in.

To the right there is fair bit of collapsed roof which quickly leads to what looks like a purposefully filled face, the abandonment plan for this mine show the major continuation of the mine back towards the inland shaft to be in this direction

Turning around and going back to the left at the T-junction there is a much longer section of drift, which has a slight dog-leg

It continues for about the same distance again after the dog-leg at which point there are some pretty large roof-falls after which the tunnel looks to come to an end (although I didn’t fancy climbing over as there were large cracks in the ceiling)
 

The co-ordinates I’ve given are a bit of a guess but its pretty easy to see where you need to be due to an overhang of  rock, here are a couple of photos from the entrance.

The entrance to the Cat Beck trial drift can be seen from the Cleveland Way.

Upon entering the drifts are flooded to above wellington height.

Heading to the North West is a small drift less than 10m long

Another drift of a similar length runs off West

A much more sizeable drift perhaps 40m runs off to the South West, although we were unable to explore due to the depth of water

The loading ramp for the Huntcliffe mine borders the railway line which still runs to Boulby Potash mine. 

Just to the south of the ramp are the foundation of an engine house used for haulage.

The fanhouse itself is on the opposite side of the railway.

In the field on the landward side is a small area of collapsed tunnel which allows access to the base of the shaft inside the building.

Heres the same shaft seen from inside

A large void remains in the middle of the structure where the fan was once located.

In the bottom of the pit is a doorway and a view up the chimney.

However much time you spend here, its hard to escape the prying eyes.

The dirft is easy to located due to the large amount of spoil spilling down the hillside of Cold Moor.

The drift entrance gives excellent views back towards Cringle Moor

The drift as a whole is fairly dry with only a small amount of standing water at the end, there are a few sizeable boulders that have fallen from the roof.

Towards the rear the drift ends with a rock face rather than a collapse

Looking back towards daylight.